


There are No Bus Stops in Gensokyo

by finitexs



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen, rated T for issues related to death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 12:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22969711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finitexs/pseuds/finitexs
Summary: Everyone eventually gets lost. Reimu is no exception to this.A fanfic in which Reimu finds a bus stop in a strange land.
Kudos: 23





	There are No Bus Stops in Gensokyo

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to [jubilantscribbler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jubilantscribbler) for betaing. check out her stuff. she doesn't write touhou, but perhaps you'll find something else you'll like. she's a good writer.

Reimu hated to admit it, but she was completely lost. She had been walking for at least an hour. Or maybe it was two hours at this point. She wasn't sure. It was hard to tell since nothing around her looked any different from when she first started walking. 

The night sky was an unchanging scene without a single star to light up the darkness. It was different compared to the bright, starry skies of Gensokyo. Luckily, there was a full moon that gave her some visibility. She would've been stumbling around in complete darkness without it. The dirt path she was following seemed endless. She wasn't even sure if the path was leading to anywhere, but it seemed better than going off the path and into the endless grassy plains.The plains stretched out as far as Reimu could see without even a single tree or any other landmark in sight. She was certain that she'd get even more lost if she stepped off the path.

Reimu let out a frustrated sigh as she kept walking. Not only was she lost, she also didn't know what to do. She wasn't even sure how she got into this situation. The last thing she remembered was drinking some tea and relaxing at the shrine and then... she was in this place. She didn't have any of her weapons or spell cards, and for some reason, she couldn't fly. Whenever she tried to, she just couldn't remember how. The air brushing her face, the weightlessness of her body, the freedom that filled her mind, all of it was clear in her mind. But whenever she tried, she found herself blankly staring at the sky, unable to get off the ground. She took a deep breath and tried to get her mind off of not being able to fly. She was thinking about it too much. It was probably just another incident or Yukari messing with her or something like that. Whatever it was, she'd just have to show them what happened when they messed with the Hakurei shrine maiden. She continued walking with newfound determination, unwilling to back down.

More time passed, and Reimu still couldn't see anything new. She was starting to think that she should've gone the other way until she saw something in the distance. She wasn't sure if it was even safe or not, but she'd take anything over the endless road and plains at this point. A sudden sense of urgency gripped Reimu and compelled her to start running as fast as she could. For some reason, she had the feeling that if she didn't get there soon, it'd disappear and be lost forever. The object in the distance grew bigger as it got closer. Reimu eventually saw a strange pole with a light on top of it and a girl standing next to it. The girl was wearing a purple dress and had blond hair with a very familiar-looking mob cap on top of her head. She was faced away from Reimu, looking up at the moon instead.

"Yukari!" Reimu yelled, "what's going... on...?" She came to a confused stop as the girl turned around.

The girl looked like Yukari, but she wasn't Yukari. Her eyes were a warm gold color, not the dark violet color that Reimu had come to associate Yukari with. And the smile on her face looked genuine and friendly, the exact opposite of Yukari's calculating and condescending smile.

"I believe you've mistaken me with someone else. My name is Maribel Hearn," the girl, Maribel, said.

It took Reimu a few seconds to realize she was staring. She was certain it was Yukari, but... "Ah... sorry. You just look really familiar, Mari... Maeribe..."

Maribel laughed and said, "You can just call me Merry. I know my name can be hard to pronounce."

Reimu nodded. "Thank you, Merry." She paused before saying, "This might sound weird, but where are we? I'm lost right now."

Merry gave Reimu an odd look. "This is the bus stop. Oh, no, wait, I know. It may not look much like a bus stop, but it's a bus stop. I can see why you'd be confused. It doesn't even have a sign," she said with a laugh. "Hard to believe they forgot that somehow."

"A 'bus stop'?" Reimu asked with a frown.

"Yes," Merry responded while nodding. "And it looks like my bus just arrived. It was nice talking to you, but I need to be going now. I can't miss this bus, or I'll be late for my meeting."

"Huh? What do you mean? I don't see anyth-" Reimu was cut off by a large, noisy, moving... thing, which she assumed was the 'bus' that Merry was talking about, appearing in the distance. It had lights on the front of it and was traveling quickly. Slowly, it came to a stop in front of Merry. 

The doors opened, and Merry stepped into the completely dark interior. She looked back and smiled, but instead of the friendly smile Reimu saw earlier, it looked more mysterious and sly. "Goodbye, Reimu. I hope I don't see you here again."

"Wait!" Reimu yelled as the doors were closing. Right before they completely closed, she saw a glimpse of multiple eyes in the darkness. The doors closed, and the bus moved away. She helplessly watched as the bus became smaller and smaller until it was completely out of view. And once again, she was left alone. She let out an irritated groan. Right when she thought she'd have some help, she was left alone. At least now she knew that a bus would eventually pick her up as long as she kept waiting.

Almost immediately, another bus appeared in the distance. It slowly approached Reimu until it finally stopped in front of her. The doors opened and showed a familiar face sitting in the front seat.

"Komachi?"

The shinigami gave a friendly smile. "Hey there, Reimu. I didn't expect to see you here so soon."

"You know this place?" Reimu asked. "What's going on? Are you the one who sent me here? Are you going to take me back to Gensokyo? How—"

"One question at a time," Komachi interrupted. "I know you're confused, but all your questions are gonna end up confusing me, too," she said with a chuckle.

"For your first question, yeah, I do know this place," Komachi said without elaborating any further.

"As to what's going on... You'll find out soon enough." Komachi gave Reimu a sympathetic smile. "It may be confusing, but it's easier to show you rather than tell you. Any other questions you got I can't answer now."

Reimu sighed. It seemed like Komachi wasn't going to change her mind, so it'd probably be easier to just cooperate. "Fine."

"Good. Now, you wanna get in? I'll give you a ride. You're gonna have to pay a fee, though."

"A fee? I don't have _any_ of my things with me. How can I pay a toll?" Reimu asked, feeling frustration building inside of her again.

A sly smile appeared on Komachi's face. "When was the last time you checked your pockets?"

Reimu scoffed but checked her pockets to humor Komachi. "Do you think money magically appears out of no—" The rest of her words died down in her throat as she felt something in her pockets. A lot of something.

"Uh..." was all Reimu could say as she pulled out a handful of money. She stared at the money with wide eyes. "I swear I didn't have this before. I've never even _seen_ this much at once in my entire life."

Komachi let out a low whistle. "That's a lot you got there. I'm guessing there's still more, too."

Reimu nodded, still in shock as she pulled out even more.

"Good. The fee is all of your money. Just put it in this box right here," Komachi said while tapping a box next to her.

Reimu nodded again as she started to put in the money. She paused and glared at Komachi. "You promise to explain everything after I do this?"

"I'll try my best," Komachi earnestly said. "I don't know if you'll like it, but I'll explain."

"Alright," Reimu said, satisfied. She continued putting in money.

It took Reimu some time, but she was eventually down to the final bill. "That took a lot longer than expected."

"That's a good thing," Komachi responded. "After you put in that last bill, you can take a seat. I'll explain everything to you."

Reimu nodded and reached out to put in the final bill.

"REIMU!"

Reimu looked behind her in surprise and saw Marisa sprinting towards the bus.

"Reimu, wait! Don't do it!" Marisa yelled as she ran.

"Marisa? What's going on?"

Marisa reached the bus and gently but firmly grabbed Reimu's wrist. She said while panting a bit, "I'm gonna get you out of this mess. Come on."

Reimu yelped as she was pulled out of the bus. Marisa shot Komachi a furious glare and said in a low, seething voice, "The next time I see you, you better be ready for a fight."

Without waiting for her response, Marisa began running into the grassy plains, pulling Reimu along with her. Reimu stumbled and nearly fell but managed to stay on her feet. She angrily yelled, "Marisa, what are you _doing_? Why are we running?"

"No time to explain," Marisa tersely responded. "Just trust me. We gotta move fast."

All of Reimu's instincts screamed that this was a trap. Marisa suddenly appeared and pulled her away from Komachi right as she was about to explain everything. Maybe this was a youkai who disguised itself as Marisa to gain Reimu's trust. But, deep down inside her, Reimu knew. She knew that this was the real Marisa, and she trusted Marisa. For the first time in her life, Reimu chose to ignore instincts, the same instincts that helped her solve countless incidents and saved her life so many times.

The two of them eventually arrived at another bus stop that looked identical to the first bus stop they were at. To Reimu's surprise, a bus was already there and was slowly starting to move away from the bus stop. Marisa sped up even more and yelled, "Hey, wait! Don't go!"

Even with how fast they were running, they were too far away to make it on time. Marisa slowed down as she watched the bus gain speed and leave the bus stop. Reimu didn't know why, but she felt sadness emanate from Marisa. She was shocked to see tears in Marisa's eyes as Marisa hopelessly stared at the bus. She only saw Marisa cry once or twice in her entire life.

Reimu awkwardly but gently squeezed Marisa's hand. She confusedly asked, "Are you... are you okay?"

Marisa wiped her tears away and quietly said, "You don't even realize what happened." 

"Yeah. I don't." Reimu wanted to ask what was going on, but she felt now wasn't the right time to ask.

A sudden loud noise caught both of their attention. Reimu looked ahead and saw that the bus was slowly moving back towards them. The bus eventually came to a stop in front of them, and the doors opened to reveal Yukari sitting in the seat.

"You two look like you've seen a ghost," Yukari cheerfully said, a cryptic smile on her face. 

Marisa looked like she was deciding whether she wanted to yell at Yukari or fight her, but she ended up pulling Reimu in front of the bus's doorway. "Here, Reimu. Go onto this bus. It's safe, I promise, even if Yukari's driving it."

"Is someone ever going to tell me what's going on?" Reimu exasperatedly asked, but she listened to Marisa and went on the bus. "And you, what are you doing here, Yukari?"

"Don't worry about it," Yukari nonchalantly said. "There's no toll for you."

Reimu went to sit down in one of the seats when she realized that Marisa wasn't coming inside the bus. "What about you, Marisa?"

Marisa shook her head. "This bus is for you. I can get out of here fine, don't worry."

"...If you say so," Reimu doubtfully said. She was worried about Marisa, but if Marisa led her to this bus stop, then she probably knew how to get out of this place.

"I'll see you later," Marisa said with a tired smile on her face. The doors closed, and Reimu was left alone with Yukari.

The bus started moving. Reimu wearily looked around the dark interior of the bus before deciding to look out the window. Not that there was anything to look at, but she couldn't think of anything else to do. Yukari hummed to fill the silence. Eventually, she stopped and asked, "Did you enjoy the performance, Reimu? I call it 'Necrofantasia'."

Reimu, who was suddenly feeling very tired and was drifting off to sleep, jolted awake when she heard her name. She yawned and drowsily responded, "Mhm yeah, really like it."

Yukari looked back at Reimu. Reimu thought she saw a hint of concern flicker across Yukari's face, but it was gone too quickly to be sure. "Don't fall asleep. You're going to miss the fun part."

"Mmmhm yeah... fun part..." Reimu mumbled as her eyes began to close again. Her eyes felt heavy. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep...

"Reimu!"

Reimu jolted awake, surprised by the sharpness of Yukari's voice. "Wha..."

Yukari was directly looking at Reimu with an unwavering gaze. "Absolutely do _not_ fall asleep, no matter what," she ordered with an urgency Reimu never heard from her before.

Reimu was too surprised to question Yukari and tried to stay awake, but she could feel her eyes quickly closing. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake.

"Reimu, we're almost there. You must stay awake."

Suddenly, a light appeared in the distance. Even through her almost closed eyes, the brightness pierced through and woke her up. The light grew brighter as they traveled towards it until it was too bright to look at. Reimu closed her eyes and looked away from the light.

"We've arrived, Reimu. Now, return to where you're meant to be."

* * *

Reimu's eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was the ceiling of Eientei. She wasn't at the shrine. She also realized that she was incredibly tired. She tried to sit up but went into a coughing fit. A sudden noise in the corner of the room made Reimu look over, and she saw Marisa scrambling up from a chair.

"Reimu!" Marisa yelled.

Reimu flinched at her sudden yelling. "Why are you so loud?" She was surprised to hear how weak her own voice was. 

Marisa rushed over to Reimu and crouched down next to her. She asked in a quieter voice, "How ya feeling, Reimu?"

"Like I just acted as a punching bag for Yuugi," Reimu groaned. She looked at Marisa and realized that Marisa didn't look like she usually did. There were dark bags under her eyes, and her hair was even messier than usual. Reimu realized that she didn't know how long she'd been in Eientei. Had Marisa stayed with her the entire time?

The door to the room suddenly opened, and the lights were turned on. Eirin and Reisen entered the room. Eirin commanded, "Udongein, check her vitals. Kirisame, step away from her. You're going to get in the way." Marisa looked like she wanted to argue, but she moved away from Reimu. 

Reisen held out a small clip that was attached to a machine. "Put your finger in here, please," Reisen said. Reimu did, and Reisen gently clamped the device around her finger. A bunch of numbers appeared on the device as Eirin scribbled on a clipboard. 

"I must say, Miss Hakurei, your recovery is nothing short of a miracle," Eirin said as she was writing. "Even with all my efforts, I wasn't sure if you were going to make it."

Reimu finally realized what had happened. She felt her mouth dry up as she hesitantly asked, "You mean... I almost died?"

"Yes," Eirin calmly responded, "You almost died. In fact, you may have actually died for a few minutes. It's a miracle that you're alive now."

Reimu went silent as she tried to process the information. That entire dream she had with Komachi and Marisa and Yukari... that was her almost dying. Somehow, she was alive. Marisa and Yukari were there. Did they save her?

Eirin and Reisen finished their inspection. "Everything seems fine, but we'll have to keep you here for at least a week more to make sure you're completely fine," Eirin said. "You should thank Miss Kirisame. If she hadn't found you collapsed at your shrine, it might've been too late to save you. 

Eirin watched as Reimu stared at the floor in shock and said, "It seems like you need some time to yourself, so I'll be leaving. Push the button next to you if you need any help." Eirin and Reisen exited the room, leaving Reimu and Marisa alone.

"...You feeling alright?" Marisa asked.

Reimu nodded. "I'm just... a little surprised."

Marisa let out tired laugh. "Yeah, no kidding. You nearly died. I thought you were actually..." She trailed off, but Reimu knew what she meant. 

"...This will sound weird, but... I had a dream. And you were there," Reimu said.

"I was?" Marisa asked, confused.

"Yeah. There was a bus stop and Komachi was there and you took me to another bus stop and Yukari was there and... Does any of this sound familiar?"

"Nope. I got no clue what you're talking about," Marisa apologetically said. 

Reimu nodded. "It was just a dream, don't worry about it."

The two became quiet. Reimu lied down and stared at the ceiling, still trying to comprehend what happened. A sudden realization came to her. "Hey, Marisa."

"Hm?"

"How long have you been here? You stink."

Marisa just stared at Reimu before she started laughing. She sounded relieved as she said, "It's good to see that you're back to your normal self. I was getting worried with how quiet you were."

Reimu pinched her nose. "Go home and take a shower. And go eat and stuff, too."

"Alright, alright, I will, don't get your bloomers twisted," Marisa said as she got up. Before she opened the door, she hesitated and looked back at Reimu. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine," Reimu dismissively said as she waved her off.

Marisa nodded and left, quietly closing the door behind her, and Reimu was alone. Reimu let out a sigh. She had no clue if the dream was real or not, but it was all over now. She was already starting to feel better. Right now, she was tired and just wanted to sleep. Closing her eyes, she fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> so i got this idea a few years ago while i was waiting at a bus stop at like 1 in the morning. i looked around and was like "wow it's dark" and suddenly, the phrase "purgatory is a bus stop" popped into my head. i noted it down on my phone in case i ever felt like using it as an idea for writing, even though i highly doubted i'd ever write again, but i was wrong about that as you can see. remember, always record any possible story ideas. you never know when you're gonna use them.
> 
> the whole part about komachi and her asking for a bus fee is a reference to her profile from PoFV
>
>> "A shinigami judges one to be good or bad not by the amount of crimes, but by money. That is to say, not the money that the deceased may have had while they were alive, but rather the total amount of those who yearned and missed that person from the bottom of their hearts. By the way, judging the amount of crimes of the dead is not Komachi's job and would be handled after crossing the river, but that's a story for another time.
>> 
>> After death, when she requests a passage fee from them, people tend to be surprised since the money they have on hand doesn't correspond to their own assets, but on the assets of his or her surrounding friends.
>> 
>> Very rich people tend to be despised during their life, and are astonished to see how little they have after death.
>> 
>> Komachi always demands those she guides to pay all the money they have, and anyone who hesitates to pay the full sum is dropped into the river midway through the journey. The river is made infinitely wide, and the unfortunate spirit is soon consumed by huge fishes and water dragon which were extinct in world of the living."
> 
> hope you enjoyed reading.


End file.
